


Love Bites.

by GonnaRattleTheStars



Series: Love Bites - A Zombie!Jim x Zombie Hunter!Dimitri AU. [2]
Category: Aladdin (1992), Anastasia (1997), Cinderella (1950), Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003), The Little Mermaid (1989), Titan AE (2000), Treasure Planet (2002)
Genre: Blood and Gore, F/M, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:42:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 10,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27778558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GonnaRattleTheStars/pseuds/GonnaRattleTheStars
Relationships: Ariel/Eric (Disney), Dimitri | Dmitry (Anastasia 1997 & Broadway)/Jim Hawkins, Marina/Proteus (Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas), Sinbad (Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas)/Cale Tucker (Titan AE)
Series: Love Bites - A Zombie!Jim x Zombie Hunter!Dimitri AU. [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2032150
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

"You always fucking do this!"

"I do not! Last time, we went to scourge for food a little later."

"Yeah, but now you're back to getting us up at the asscrack of dawn just to see if there's food left in the stores. Newsflash, Sinbad: EVERYTHING'S ABANDONED! THERE'S NOTHING BEING RESTOCKED!! WE-!"

"Guys, knock it off _right now_!"

The stern voice makes both Sinbad and the guy he's arguing with, Cale Tucker, stop and turn towards its owner. Their leader, Dimitri, steps inbetween the two, looking at Sinbad first, then Cale.

"Why the hell are you guys always arguing about this? It seems like every single day, we go through the same thing, the same argument."

Sinbad sighs and crosses his arms, leaning up against the table behind him. "Just so you know, Dim, it's him who always has to start things."

"That's not true!"

Dimitri gives Cale a sharp glare, the one that everyone in their little group knows means to shut your mouth or else. The blond throws his hands up in defeat, rolling his eyes as he turns and just walks away into the kitchen.

"Hey," Sinbad claps a hand against Dimitri's shoulder, "I propose we make him go to get the food. I mean, he is the one always sta-"

" _I'll_ get it," Dimitri interrupts, "and in the meantime, you can wake up the others and clean this house up. Can you do that for me or is it too complicated?"

The other's eyes go wide, and he slowly takes his hand away from his irate leader's shoulder. "Sorry, I-I'll do that, don't worry."

"Good."

A while later, after packing up his gun and some water, clothing, and food in case he gets stuck in another house, Dimitri leaves, and the others do as they're told.

Sinbad glances over at Cale, who's busied himself with scrubbing the counters of the kitchen.

"I, um," he says, stumbling over his words, "I just... I wanted to say I'm sorry... for... for how things ended between us."

Cale stops scrubbing the counter he's working on, and Sinbad can see him clench his fists, knuckles turning pale.

"I appreciate the apology," the young man's words are rigid, stiff, "but it's three years too late."

Sinbad sighs and is about to say something else when Cindy, one of the four women in their group, enters the kitchen. She stops, eyes darting between the two.

"Oh, my apologies," she says sweetly, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Nah, you're good," Cale replies, continuing to scrub the counter, this time more forcefully. Cindy looks over at Sinbad.

"So what do you want the girls to do? Eric's working on the living room floor, and Proteus is cleaning the bathroom and windows."

"You guys can start in the bedrooms," Sinbad instructs, not sparing the girl a glance as he brings out a mop and bucket.

"Got it," Cindy responds, turning and walking out of the kitchen.

In record time, everything is done and the group passes the time by playing a board game, timidly waiting for their leader's return.


	2. Chapter 2

"Fucking hell," Dimitri mutters as he spots two biters up ahead, in front of the convenience store that he'd planned to go into. Taking out his gun, he places the muffler on it and takes two shots, one going through one zombie's head and the other through the other's mouth.

The man steps over the bodies of the zombies, watching carefully to make sure they don't reanimate somehow. He tries the front doors, but they're locked.

Dammit, of course they are. Running his hands through his hair, he begins to look around the building, being careful not to knock anything over or make a lot of noise. He finally spots a broken window, just big enough for him to fit through.

The place is musty and covered in dirt and cobwebs. The floors look grimy with mysterious-looking stains and spilled or broken cans and bottles. Lighting is out of the question, as the power probably got cut off a couple months back when no one was around to pay the electricity bills.

They've been in this apocalypse for only a year, and already, people have deserted their stores, their homes, everything.

Dimitri sets to work grabbing some canned goods, ones that haven't passed their expiry date yet, and a couple candy bars. Not the healthiest choice in meals, but they have to make do with what they have. He's about to try and figure out a way to unlock the front doors when he hears... something... something in the back of the store.

It sounds like a zombie feasting on a corpse... he's got that sound ingrained into his mind after the last couple trips, and he's sure the others do as well. He knows it's stupid, he knows he'll potentially get killed, but he doesn't care.

The hunter takes out his gun and is about to fire without looking, but he decides to take a risk. He peeks around the corner, and is met with a grisly sight, yet... there's something compelling about this scene in front of him.

A biter, looking to be not that much younger than Dimitri (he'd have to guess around 18 or 19, approximately), is feasting on the intestines of a dead woman. Dimitri doesn't know why, but he doesn't want to shoot this one.

He slowly lowers his gun and just watches the biter chow down furiously, taking in what this one looks like. Brown hair, matted with blood and some torn out as if he'd been in a fight of some kind, shaved about halfway up his head and tied to a rattail, skin that Dimitri imagines must've been brown at one point, now pale and lifeless with various bite marks and scars littered across, the most beautiful sky blue eye that the hunter's ever seen... and an empty socket where the other eye should've been.

The young man is mesmerized by the undead boy's beauty, at least to him. He puts the gun away as quietly as he can, but he's not quiet enough as the gun makes a clattering noise against the cans of food in the bag. The zombie abruptly looks up, a portion of the dead woman's small intestine hanging from his mouth. Dimitri doesn't make another move, both scared and still intrigued.

The young biter moves swiftly from where he was, towards this stranger. The shaggy, rapid breathing resonates in Dimitri's ear as the other sniffs around his body, getting too close for comfort, but... the hunter doesn't pull away or push the biter off of him, as one of the others would've surely done.

Dimitri and the biter are soon staring at one another face to face, and Dimitri gives a small smile. The zombie runs an emaciated hand slowly across his face, but the hunter makes no move to stop him.

Suddenly, the front doors burst open, and the biter jumps out of the nearby window with an agility unlike any other that Dimitri's seen before.

"Dimitri?! Hey, you alright?"

Sinbad suddenly appears, holding his cell phone.

'Damn you for insisting that you track our phones,' Dimitri thinks to himself as he hears the familiar fast-paced beeping of the tracker app.

"What the hell took so long? You weren't cornered by those things, were you?"

Dimitri looks over at the body of the woman that the young biter had been feasting on moments before, and he shakes his head in response.

"Oh, that's gross," Sinbad comments, recoiling in disgust as he notices what Dimitri's staring at, "and sad. Damn these fucking things."

"Yeah.. shame," the other replies. Sinbad picks up the duffel bag filled with the goods, rummaging through it.

"Anyway, let's head off, the others are waiting at home."

"...You know we can't stay there for much longer, right? Soon, that place will be a biter hotspot like the last one was."

"I know, but I hate moving. I hate being paranoid about every single little sound at night, imagining one of those things eating me alive. And you know that's gonna happen at every single place we go to."

"I know that, but what choice do we have, Sinbad? We can't live out in the streets, we'll basically have signs on our backs if we do that."

"Targets."

"What?"

"We'll have targets on our backs, not signs."

Dimitri rolls his eyes. "Whatever."

"Okay, if we're done wasting time and basically inviting ourselves to get attacked by those undead freaks, I'd like to head off for the safety of our home. Oh, by the way, we did what you told us to do."

Sinbad then walks out of the store with the duffel bag in his hand, leaving Dimitri behind in the store. The man is about to walk out after him when something on the ground catches his eye. Picking it up, he begins to inspect it.

An I.D. card. The photo of the young man featured on the card looks almost like the biter, except more... alive, without the scars and messed up hair, and with both blue eyes. He's smiling for the camera, and Dimitri feels compelled to smile back.

"Hmm... Jim Hawkins..." he whispers to himself, chuckling as he reads the name. "It suits you."

"Let's go, dammit! Unless you want us to get caught!"

Dimitri rolls his eyes, putting the ID in his pocket, and heads out of the store. Unbeknownst to him, though, the biter he'd encountered--Jim--watches him depart from the building, intrigue in his eye and in his unbeating heart.


	3. Chapter 3

"Dimitri, there you are," Cale rushes over and starts to inspect his leader for bites or scratches, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Cale," Dimitri says firmly, lightly pushing him away, "I just..."

Should he tell them about the biter... about Jim? No, he can't, he... he doesn't trust them enough not to kill him if he comes around here. He can't risk anything happening to Jim... but why? Jim's just another biter... it shouldn't matter if he's killed, but to Dimitri, for some reason... it does.

"...I just got a bit lost on the way to the-"

"He saw a biter eating a dead woman," Sinbad interrupts from the doorway of the kitchen.

"Oh, God," Cale replies, "did you get bitten? Scratched?"

"I just said I'm fine," Dimitri says, tone a little bit snippy, and Cale puts his hands up in mock surrender, "but... thanks for caring, Cale. Means a lot."

Cale gives his leader a gentle smile, and Dimitri returns it. The moment is soon interrupted by the rest of the gang piling into the living room.

"Hey, you're back! We thought you'd gotten killed by a biter or something," Mulan pipes up.

"Nope, still alive," Dimitri replies, chuckling. He walks into the kitchen where Sinbad is busy with taking a look at the food that he'd taken from the abandoned store.

"Everything here looks good." A chuckle. "We should send you out more often."

"Nah, I like to give you guys a chance, at least."

"What, a chance to get killed by a freak?"

Dimitri visibly tenses up at that term, thinking of Jim and how utterly beautiful he was to him. He wasn't a freak... dammit, why is he all of a sudden feeling this way?! Luckily, Sinbad doesn't notice it.

"No, a chance to help keep us all alive," he replies to the other's earlier question.

Sinbad then changes the subject. "You got some really good stuff, like I said," he pulls out a jar of marinara sauce and a packet of noodles, "could make some pasta with these two ingredients alone."

"Yeah, we could," Dimitri then pulls out a bag of broccoli and shredded carrots, "we can add this to the pasta, you know, to make it healthier."

"Sure," Sinbad agrees, going over to the cabinets and taking out a pot. Filling it up with water, he places it on the stove and turns the appliance on.

"Just keep an eye on it," Dimitri instructs, "don't want this place going down in flames."

"Up in flames, you mean."

"Oh, whatever," the leader snaps playfully, "you know what I mean."

He walks out of the kitchen and into the living room where the others are. Cale, Cindy, Mulan, Ariel, Marina, and Proteus are playing Monopoly at the coffee table. Eric, however, is sitting on the couch and staring out the front window, so he goes over to the man.

"How're you doing so far? You okay?"

"As okay as I can be," the other man replies, not looking at Dimitri, "after... what happened."

"Is Ariel okay?"

"Seems to be," a sigh, "although she doesn't want to talk about it. Everytime I try to mention it, try and get some closure, she shuts me out."

"I'm sorry, man," Dimitri says solemnly, placing a hand on Eric's shoulder, "if you need someone to vent to, you know I'm always here for you."

"Thanks," Eric finally looks over at the other and gives him a smile, "means a lot. So, uh, I don't mean to change the subject, but... mind telling me, at least, what really happened back at the convenience store? Cuz I've gotten to know you well enough to know that you don't get lost, at least for that long."

"Um..."

Dimitri looks over at the others, and Eric takes the hint that he wants to speak to him in private. They walk into the next room, and Dimitri shuts the door behind the two of them.

"I saw one," he starts, "a biter. But... I didn't have it in me to kill him."

He looks over at Eric, expecting him to yell at him for being so reckless and stupid, like Sinbad or Cale would've surely done, but all Eric does is wait for him to continue.

Taking a deep breath, Dimitri continues, "I... may have fallen for him. I know, it sounds stupid as fuck, but... there was just... something about him. And he actually came up to me," he can see Eric's jaw set at that, "but he didn't bite or scratch me. He just sniffed me, and then we locked eyes... he only had one eye, but, God, it was the most beautiful blue I'd ever seen."

"Alright," Eric says, "I trust your judgment, but if the others were to find out, especially Cale or Sinbad-"

"I know, I know, they'd... they'd kill him, which is why I'm gonna be doing the next couple of runs. You know, just in case."

Eric smiles at him, nodding. "I understand, trust me. And don't worry," he then crosses his heart, "your secret'll be safe with me. I won't tell the others."

"Thank you, Eric," Dimitri replies, giving the other a smile.

"Anything for a friend."

They then exchange a brief hug and walk out of the bedroom, joining the others in their Monopoly game.


	4. Chapter 4

"Going out," Dimitri calls back toward his group, who's sitting on the leather sofa. A few choruses of 'Stay safe' and 'Okay' mix together (minus Sinbad and Cale) as the others say goodbye, but Cale gets up and hurries over to him.

"Are you sure you should be going out by yourself?" he asks warily, making Dimitri chuckle as he rolls his eyes playfully.

"I've done it before, Cale," he replies, "and besides, since when are you so overprotective with me?"

"I just want to make sure you're gonna come back to us in one piece," Cale runs a hand through his hair, "you are our leader, after all, Dimitri, and I-... _we_ care about you... a lot. We wouldn't want anything happening to you."

The leader places a hand on the other's shoulder, squeezing it lightly. Cale feels compelled to place his own hand on top of it, but he resists.

"I'll be fine," Dimitri insists gently, and Cale nods, watching as he departs.

The blond returns to the group, and Sinbad looks over at him, silently asking where he went off to, seeing as they still had groceries left over from Dimitri's last run. Cale shrugs in response, and Sinbad sighs, looking out the window with a raised eyebrow for a minute before returning to the conversation with their group.

* * *

The hunter had dealt with zombies in various buildings (apartment complexes, convenience/grocery stores, houses, etc.), but he's never known one who seems to know their way around one, so color him surprised to see the young biter from a couple weeks ago--Jim, he remembers from the ID card he'd picked up--swiftly leaping through an abandoned inn's open window.

He's not sure if Jim remembers him, but it won't hurt to try and see, will it?

Deciding to take a chance, Dimitri enters after a while, making sure that Jim doesn't hear him come in the same way he did. Just as he steps off the table, his foot catches on something and he goes down hard onto the wood flooring.

'Nice going, idiot,' he thinks to himself, 'now he's definitely going to know you're here and following him.'

Suddenly, he feels the familiar skin-and-bones hand on his shoulder as he's getting up, the distinct feeling making him shiver with both delight and... some other feeling that he can't quite put his finger on. He looks up, and, just as he suspected, Jim is standing over him, face looking wraught with concern.

'And Sinbad and Cale said they felt no emotions...'

Dimitri puts a hand up and uses the table to get back on his feet, and Jim stands up with him, watching very closely to make sure that he doesn't fall again.

"Thanks," the hunter says, smiling genuinely at the young biter. Jim grins back, and Dimitri notices that he still has all his teeth.

Hmm, he must've gotten bitten not all that long ago (from Eric's research notebooks, they take about five months to turn into fully fledged biters) but... _why_ had he turned so quickly? Does age play into this, or is Jim more vulnerable to the infection?

Moreso, _how_ did he get turned? Because... only those with the same blood can turn each other into biters, at least from his readings. There's no possible way that another biter unrelated to him could turn him.

He's surprised when Jim suddenly takes him by the arm and leads him down the stairs, where Dimitri notices a line of pictures leading up the wall. That's when he notices a woman featured in almost all of the photos that don't seem to be school pictures.

She's beautiful, with hair as brown as Jim's is, the same blue eyes, the same smile. He can see now where Jim gets his overall features from. Could she be his sister or mother?

Jim sure seems to know his way around the building, almost as if it was his own home. From Dimitri's delve into Eric's research, he remembers seeing something that said, 'Biters are most compelled to stay in the places that they were turned. It's sort of like a comfort for them, a safe haven.'

It makes sense, then, that he'd be here. This inn is his safe haven.

He then remembers reading that biters were highly territorial, and that if another biter were to try and take over their space, they'd fight tooth and nail to protect it. Could that be the reason that Jim is scuffed up the way he is? How many fights had he been in protecting this place?

How many biters had tried to enter his home for him to get that many scars and teeth marks? How many biters had tried to get him out of his safe space?

Thinking about that just makes Dimitri's blood boil, and his feeling of needing to protect and be there for Jim just grows ever stronger. He doesn't deserve this, but then he gets to thinking about the biters he and his friends have killed without any hesitation or remorse... they were once human, too.

At least the vast majority of them were...

Jim captures his attention again when he begins to rummage through a pile of letters on a nearby table, pulling up a smaller picture of the same woman that Dimitri had seen on the walls.

"Is that someone you know?"

A silent nod, then... Dimitri is taken by surprise when Jim tries speaking, holding up the picture so he can see.

"M... m..." the sound is raspy, almost sore-throat-like, "m..."

"...Mom?" Dimitri guesses. "That's your mom?"

Jim nods, and Dimitri's heart pangs with sorrow for him. Could he have been turned by his own mother? And... did he have to shoot her afterwards?

"She was beautiful," the hunter comments, "like you."

Jim smiles and sets the picture down, taking Dimitri's hand again. He's about to lead the hunter back upstairs when...

He sniffs the air and begins to hiss, teeth baring. Suddenly, another biter appears at the top of the stairs, moving on all fours like a cat, and when she sees Jim, she begins to hiss back, arching her back to make herself look bigger.

Dimitri's frozen in shock, and when the other biter notices him, he can almost see the hunger in her eyes as she locks onto him, hissing furiously. She leaps down the stairs towards the two.

Jim lunges and meets her midair, both of them tumbling down the steps as they ferociously bite and claw at one another. Dimitri debates going and getting his knife that's in his bag, but then remembers that the female could chase after him and get him.

After a long while of the two biters swiping at one another, the female surrenders, retreating out of the front window. Jim immediately goes over to Dimitri and looks up at him, wrapping his bony arms around the hunter's waist, his eye fixated on the other's face. 

"Alright," Dimitri reassures, a bit taken aback at the sudden hug, "hey, it's alright, I'm fine."

Jim clings tighter to his companion, burying his face in his chest, and the other's heart skips a few beats at how gentle this young biter is being towards him.

"Hey, you wanna come back with me? I swear on my life that I won't let anyone in my group hurt you. Plus I hate to think of you being here all alone, without anybody to protect you."

Jim suddenly backs away, panic seeming to settle in on his expression. Dimitri steps closer to him, cupping the biter’s face gently, thumb slowly moving back and forth against his cheek.

"You trust me, don't you?"

A low purr resounds from Jim's throat, and he nuzzles his face against Dimitri's palm. Dimitri sighs, looking at this biter that he's admittedly grown fond of.

"But you wanna stay here, right? This is your home, after all."

Jim nods, visibly calming down. Dimitri nods, giving the biter a warm smile, which is returned.

"Alright, I'm fine with visiting for a while until you feel you're ready. After all, I wouldn't want to take you away from your safe space, at least not right away. That would just be cruel of me."

A purr resounds from Jim's throat, and he brushes the back of his hand against the hunter's cheek as a way to say 'Thank you'. Dimitri chuckles, gathering up his things.

"I'll be back in a couple days, alright?"

At the young zombie's nod in agreement, the hunter leaves out the front door. Jim watches from the front window, a smile making its way across his face.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey, Cale," Sinbad calls from the living room as Cale is leaving the kitchen, carrying a can of soda, "c'mere, I, uh... I wanna talk."

"There's nothing to talk about," Cale retorts bluntly, taking a long sip from the can.

"Yes, there is, and you know it."

The blond rolls his eyes, but eventually gives in, plopping down on the empty cushion.

"What is it?"

"I know you said you appreciated my apology, but... have you forgiven me?"

A scoff is given in reply. "How can you truly forgive someone who's done that to you?"

"I realized back then that how I reacted was wrong," the brunet looks over at Cale, a hand running through his hair, "and I wish I could go back in time to let you explain yourself."

"See," Cale sets the can down on the coffee table a little bit harder than he intends to, "that's the problem with you, Sinbad. I took you back after all those times that you did that to me, no questions asked, but the one time--let me emphasize that, _the one time_ \--I go out to that bar and I do what you did probably multiple times throughout our six years together, you can't fucking handle that, you go flying off the rails."

"I know, I know, I just said that the way I reacted was wrong, but I was hurt."

"And I wasn't?! I wasn't hurt the first time it happened, and then even more so when you kept fucking doing it?! There were nights where I just wanted to lock the front door when you didn't come home after midnight, just so I wouldn't have to see your face when you came crawling back!"

"Well, I wasn't-!"

"Bullshit! Don't you dare try and say you weren't trying to hurt me, because you were, otherwise you would've stopped the first time like I did!"

"Okay, let's say that I was trying to, why did you take me back then?! Why didn't you just kick me out the first time I had cheated?!"

"Because I loved you, Sinbad!! I fucking loved you so goddamned much that I was willing to take you back after the first time, and then the second, then the third!"

"Well, it was stupid of you to do that if you knew that I would cheat everytime we had a fight!"

"God damn, you don't listen, do you?! I loved you so fucking much!! I willingly ignored the many times that you had cheated because I was that in love with you! I should've walked out the third time you did it!"

Sinbad's fists clench, and he bites his tongue hard. Cale looks over at him after he's calmed down some, and the memories come flooding back. He stands up, planning to walk out the front door and go for a stroll to clear his head, but the other grabs his arm as he walks past him.

"I want to know one more thing," he says, words sounding forced, "was... was Dimitri the one you cheated on me with that night?"

Cale's jaw sets and he stays silent, waiting for him to continue.

"I see the way you act around him, even if you don't think I do," Sinbad continues, "and, to be honest... I kind of suspected something had gone on between you two."

The blond lets out a breath, and he finally looks down to see Sinbad staring up at him.

"Was it him?"

Cale finally nods, and then he hurriedly walks out the door once Sinbad lets go, not seeing the other bury his head in his hands.


	6. Chapter 6

Dimitri is slowly starting to get into the routine of checking up on Jim at the abandoned inn after his runs, taking a bit longer each time. He makes up excuse after excuse to his group, but tells only Eric the truth about his visits, and Eric helps him out by letting him read the research notebook to hopefully discover more about not just Jim, but the biters in general.

Jim seems to be getting more tolerable of Dimitri as well, even to the point of waiting for him by the front window. From Dimitri's readings, when biters get to know a human better, they'll start becoming more fond of their chosen person, acting loyal and fighting tooth and nail to protect them. They also have a really good detailed memory (despite being undead), so that if they haven't seen their person in, say, a few months, they will not stop searching for them.

However, the hunter is hoping for Jim to eventually be comfortable enough to leave the inn and come home with him, where Dimitri can better protect him. He's seen way more scars and teeth marks on the poor young biter, the most worrisome being those teeth marks on his throat.

If only he could stay there for one night without his group worrying so much about where he is, most especially Cale. Hell, that guy would probably not rest until Dimitri was back with them, whether safe or injured.

However, he is their leader, so of course they'd be worried, even if Cale is a bit overbearing. That's the only reason that he would be making sure that his leader was okay before each run, or at least Dimitri thinks so.

Dimitri is thinking about that night, the night that he and Cale had that affair, as he's walking up the porch of the inn, and he wonders what Sinbad would do if he were to find out that it was him... would he try and take over the position of leadership? Would he kill him on the spot?

His thoughts are interrupted by Jim leaping into his arms and making him tumble backwards on the porch, the biter holding on tightly and nuzzling his face into the hunter's chest.

"You know it's always good to see you, too, Jim," Dimitri laughs, getting up but holding onto Jim tightly. He walks into the house with the young zombie still clinging to him like a koala bear, setting a paper bag down on the dining table. "I brought you something."

He reaches into the bag and takes out a liver and small intestine, both still fresh and dripping blood. Jim immediately goes in for the liver, devouring it whole. He then moves on to the intestine, taking his time with it.

Dimitri is unpacking the dinner that he'd picked up for himself when Jim suddenly hands a piece of the organ to him. Looking over, he sees Jim's face, his eye glistening and a smile that he knows the hunter's not going to be able to resist saying no to.

"Oh, thank you, Jim," Dimitri says politely, taking the intestine from the zombie with a smile.

Glancing down at it, he grimaces at how it looks and feels in his hand. He takes a very tentative bite of the organ, wanting to immediately spit it out, but resisting the urge to do so, afraid of hurting Jim's feelings if he does. He swallows it pretty easily, to his surprise.

'This is so wrong,' he thinks to himself, 'but... I'd hate to upset him.'

He hands the rest back to Jim, who's smiling from ear to ear, then continues to make his own dinner, precooked steak and mashed potatoes with canned corn and peas. It's not fun eating it cold, but he doesn't want to start a fire and be the cause of this young zombie losing the only safe haven he's known for his whole life.

After eating, Dimitri decides to let Jim take him on a little tour of the rest of his house, all the while being fascinated by Jim's attempts to speak. There are times when he almost gets it, too (he'd hopped up on his bed while saying 'beh' over and over with a gleam in his eye until Dimitri said the whole word, and the zombie had grinned with pride at his human's laughter and the 'You're getting there' comment), and those little moments make the hunter's heart pang with joy.

However, Dimitri can't take his eyes off the many scars that Jim has, and his blood boils everytime he envisions Jim having to fight off who knows how many other biters every day just to keep his home from being invaded and taken from him.

"You have to defend yourself and your home almost every day, huh, Jim?" Dimitri asks as he's sitting on Jim's bed, the biter curled up in his lap and resting his head on the hunter's shoulder, as they flip through a photo album that Jim had brought out from underneath his dresser.

"Yeh," Jim replies.

Dimitri sighs sadly, and he turns the page, noticing a man who looks almost the exact same as Jim next to his mother, with her holding a blue blanket in her arms and smiling down at it. A little tuft of brown hair can be seen peeking out of the blanket.

He's surprised when Jim starts hissing ferociously at the photo, vigorously scratching at the man's face as if he wants to tear him from the picture.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's alright, it's only a photo," Dimitri tries to reassure as he gathers the angry biter into his arms, holding him tightly as he quickly shuts the photo album.

Jim still seems to be agitated after the photo album is shut and put away, trying to get out of Dimitri's arms. Dimitri lets him go, and he dashes out of the bedroom into another room across the hallway.

The hunter decides to go after him, wanting to find out why he'd reacted to the picture like that. He finds Jim under a bed in the room, clutching a chain with a gold locket on it.

"Hey, Jim," he speaks softly, slowly, so as not to further upset the biter, "is everything alright?"

Jim looks over at him, eye widened and body shaking, and Dimitri sighs.

'Biters retain memories from early childhood up until the time they're turned,' he recalls, 'and some memories may cause highly negative, at times violent, reactions.'

"Who was that in the photo? Was he...?"

Realization begins to dawn on Dimitri as he remembers not seeing the man in the family photos after Jim had turned twelve, as shown by a birthday photo where only he was in front of the cake and lit candles. One would've expected for his father to be there, too, either beside or behind him.

"He was your dad, wasn't he? And... he left you and your mom before you turned twelve, huh?"

Jim only nods, sniffling as if he's crying, though no tears flow. The hunter holds his arms out, and the biter clambors back into them, resting his head on the other's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry that happened," Dimitri whispers, wanting to cry for Jim himself, "you didn't deserve that."

They stay like that for a couple more minutes before Dimitri realizes the time.

'Dammit,' he thinks, looking down at Jim, who's busy staring longingly at the locket that he held onto, 'can't time just slow down for once?'

"Okay," he speaks, setting Jim down onto the bed, "I have to go again, but you know now that I'll be back, right?"

Jim nods, but then does something unexpected. He looks at Dimitri, then down at the locket, then back up at Dimitri again.

Dimitri cocks an eyebrow at Jim's strange behavior, but then, the biter surprises him by placing the locket around his neck. He steps back, then purrs happily after staring at the hunter for a while.

"This is so sweet, thank you," Dimitri says, a smile on his face as he looks longingly at Jim, already anticipating the next time they'll see one another again.

Jim walks with him down the stairs, taking his place at the window as Dimitri makes his way out the door and back to his safehouse.


	7. Chapter 7

When Dimitri enters the house, he's surprised when he almost bumps into Sinbad, who's standing a few feet away from the front door.

"Oh, hey, Sinbad," he greets, "how's the group doing? I know I was gone for a bit longer than you guys expected, but-"

"What the hell, man?"

"I'm sorry, I'm confused, are-are you... are you angry about something?"

"I'm not just angry, Dimitri," Sinbad replies, "I'm _livid_. What the hell were you doing with Cale that night?!"

Oh, so Cale must've confessed. That's what this is about.

"Okay, I'll admit," Dimitri stays calm, "Cale and I... we did have an affair that one night. But I swear it was no strings attached, okay?"

"No, it's not okay because I shouldn't have had to find out during a talk with my ex-boyfriend about our six-year relationship ending!"

"That was three years ago, man, I would've thought you'd be over Cale by now."

"Well, I'm not, okay?! I still have feelings for him! I still love him, and I regret cheating on him so many times!"

"I mean, it's kinda too late for that apology, isn't it?"

Sinbad's fists clench, but he doesn't swing because he knows that Dimitri's the leader and he can easily get banished from the group.

"You don't know what the hell we had together! We loved one another, we cared for each other, I was planning on proposing the morning we broke it off when I found out where he was the other night!"

"Why, so you could stay in the same shitty routine of fighting and then storming off to bars to get shitfaced and then have one-night-stands for the rest of your lives? Doesn't sound like a very healthy marriage to me, Sinbad."

"Oh, who the hell are you to talk about healthy relationships and marriage?! The last guy you were engaged to ran off with a woman on the night of your two-year anniversary, remember that?!"

"God, I knew I should never have told you about that! That was different, I didn't cheat on him more than once like you did with Cale!"

Sinbad gets in Dimitri's face, his breath hot against the other's cheek. "Don't. Fucking. Push me."

"What're you gonna do? You know you can't hit me, I'm the leader of this group, and if it wasn't for me, you'd still be out on the streets fending for yourself."

Sinbad's jaw clenches, but he backs away, still glaring daggers at Dimitri.

"Oh, and if you're wondering, I didn't develop feelings for Cale that night, and I never did. Like I said, it was one night."

"So it meant nothing to you?"

"..."

" _Did it mean anything_?! Answer me, dammit!!"

"...No, it meant nothing. We were both drunk off our asses, and we decided to hook up for one night, but that was it."

Still pissed off but a little reassured that Dimitri hadn't had feelings harbored for Cale, Sinbad just walks off into the bedroom. Dimitri, however, packs up an overnight bag, not wanting to stay in his house that night. He goes back to the inn and stays with Jim for the night, to the zombie's utter delight.

Unbeknownst to the both of them, Cale had heard the entire argument from the kitchen. With tears filling his eyes, he leans up against the door, sliding down until he makes contact with the tile floor below, and sobs silently at the knowledge that Dimitri will never feel the same way that he does.


	8. Chapter 8

Dimitri storms up the steps of the inn's front porch, still very heated about the argument that he'd gotten into moments before with Sinbad. Jim rushes to the door to meet him, but stops when he sees the hunter's expression. Slinking back, he begins to whimper softly, thinking he'd done something to upset his person.

"Hey," Dimitri says softly, expression turning into one of concern, "are you okay? I'm not angry with you, Jim, I promise. I could never get angry with you."

Jim, still a bit wary, comes a little closer to the hunter, eye fixated on his face. Dimitri comes closer to Jim himself, gathering the biter into his arms, and the zombie purrs happily, nuzzling his cheek against his human's face.

He's then taken by surprise when Dimitri does something unexpected: he plants a kiss to Jim's cheek when it brushes against his lips, and the gesture of affection makes the biter back away a bit, giving the hunter a confused look. Dimitri can't help but laugh at the zombie's puzzled expression.

"That's called a kiss," he explains, "and you give one to somebody you’re fond of."

Jim chirps in understanding, then tries a kiss of his own, dragging his tongue across Dimitri's cheek. Dimitri chuckles and shakes his head.

"Okay, we'll work on that," he says, "now I'm going to take a shower and get ready for bed."

As he walks away, Jim touches the spot on his cheek where the hunter's lips had made contact and smiles softly.

If he were alive, he'd be blushing like crazy right about now.

* * *

Dimitri steps out of the shower, then realizes that he forgot a towel. He swings open the door, only to find Jim standing there, presumably waiting for him.

"Hi there," he says, a bit startled at the zombie's sudden presence. He then notices Jim's eye begin to travel down his body. "Sorry, I forgot a towel. Do you remember where you kept them, by any chance?"

Jim is still staring, but then he nods and goes to retrieve a towel for Dimitri. Wrapping the towel around his lower body, Dimitri walks out of the bathroom, the biter following him into his bedroom.

"Do you mind if I take your mom's room for the night?" the hunter questions.

Jim nods his head, and Dimitri puts his stuff into the other room. He then begins to get dressed into his pajamas, but is interrupted by the biter curiously sniffing at his lower region.

"Uh," Dimitri says, "that's... okay, that's a little too close."

Jim then goes behind him, sniffing his backside (fortunately, he had slipped his PJ bottoms on already) and then attempting to try and "kiss" it. Dimitri yelps in surprise, jumping away from the biter, and Jim gives him a puzzled expression.

"Jim, no, we're not that close yet," Dimitri reprimands, though letting out a nervous laugh, and Jim seems to be attempting to process that information. The biter then looks up at Dimitri and grabs him, "kissing" his lips. Dimitri doesn't know what to do at this point, and Jim's happy chirps are too cute to discipline.

Besides, the young zombie’s still learning a lot, so he doesn't want to reprimand him for being curious and wanting to know more about how humans interact with one another. Then again, however, boundaries would do the both of them some good, at least for right now.

"I'm sorry, Jim," Dimitri says, "I know you're learning and curious, but you need to take it a bit slower. Got it?"

Jim chirps in understanding and takes Dimitri's hand, leading him back to his bedroom. He then pulls the hunter down onto his own bed, climbing on top of him.

"Jim, I thought you said I could sleep in your mother's bed tonight," a chuckle, "unless you changed your mind and you want me to sleep with you."

The biter nods fervently, then "kisses" Dimitri's cheek, which makes the other smile.

"Alright, then, that's perfectly fine with me."

Getting underneath the duvet, the hunter pulls the biter into his arms and kisses his other cheek, the purrs that he loves so much emitting from Jim's throat as the other nuzzles into the crook of his neck.

After a while of laying there listening to his companion's content purring, the hunter soon falls asleep, the biter watching him with fascination.


	9. Chapter 9

Eric walks into the girls' bedroom, where Ariel is busy brushing her hair. He places a hand on her shoulder, and she jumps.

"Eric," she greets, "hi. What're you doing in here? Aren't you going to bed?"

"I am," he replies, "in a bit." He then sits down on her bed, looking over at the three empty beds.

"Are Sinbad, Proteus, and Cale asleep already?" Ariel asks, putting the brush down and sitting beside him. Eric nods in response, and she hums in acknowledgement. "So what're you really doing in here?"

"Ariel..." he starts, but then sighs deeply before continuing, "I... I think you know why."

The redhead thinks for a moment, but then gives a swift shake of her head. "Eric, I thought we were done bringing that up."

"Well, we need some closure," Eric argues gently, not wanting to raise his voice.

"Why?!"

"Because I see how you're hurting, even though you don't show it, and I want to help you, Ariel."

"I don't need help," Ariel's voice quivers, "I just need to forget what happened."

"How can you say that? We can't forget her."

"I need to, though, because everytime we bring her up, my mind just goes back to that moment that we lost her!"

"I know what you mean," Eric says, running a hand through his hair, "I never told you this, but... most of my dreams are about that very moment."

"But you don't know what I went through, not fully. I carried her inside of me for nine months, and we had twelve years with her before she was ripped away from us..."

Ariel glances down at the floor, tears filling her eyes.

"Away from me."

Eric takes her into his arms, letting her sob on his shoulder.

"Trust me, Ariel," he whispers, "I know. But you know Melody wouldn't want this, right? She wouldn't want us to dwell on this for too long."

"I know, but I... I can't forget about her, I can't forget about our daughter so easily."

"We're not forgetting her," Eric reassures gently, "she's forever in our memory and in our hearts. We can celebrate the times we had together when her birthday or... death date comes around, or we can honor her memory on special holidays like Christmas."

"We can? I... never thought about it that way."

"Yes, we can, and I know we're divorced, but you can always come to me when you need a shoulder to cry on."

"Thank you, Eric," Ariel gives him a smile, "it means so much that even though we parted ways after the loss of our daughter, I can still come to you."

Eric returns the smile and gets up from the bed. "Have a good night."

"You, too."

With that, he goes back to his own bedroom. Ariel rummages through a dresser drawer and pulls out a family photo that they had taken the evening before Melody's twelfth birthday, with Eric and Ariel on either side of her, all three smiling their biggest and brightest smiles.

"Oh, Melody," she whispers, "I hope you know that your dad and I are going to start remembering you. I'm so sorry I ever thought about trying to forget you, it was selfish of me."

She then places a kiss to the photo, letting her lips linger against it and imagining herself kissing her daughter's forehead for one last time.

"I love you so much, sweetheart... I hope you can feel it wherever you are."

As she finishes getting ready for bed, a gentle breeze washes over her, lingering for a long while before disappearing, and Ariel smiles to herself, knowing somehow that her beautiful Melody is saying 'I love you' back.


	10. Chapter 10

Dimitri wakes up to the sun shining brightly in his face, and Jim is nowhere to be found. He remembers last night, the argument with Sinbad and him storming off to stay the night here at the inn.

He doesn't think he'll be able to go back for at least another couple of days, especially with Sinbad most likely still being pissed about him and Cale and the affair... he doesn't even know if he wants to go back, but he is their leader, and they're counting on him to help them survive.

But... Dimitri also doesn't want to leave Jim alone here, not when the poor biter is being attacked so many times. He really wishes he could figure out a way to make Jim feel more comfortable with leaving the inn, but he doesn't want to rush things, of course, as it could traumatize the young zombie.

He sits up in the bed, a sigh leaving his lips as he runs a hand through his hair. Getting up, he goes over to the mirror at the far corner of the room to freshen up a bit. After he's done, he heads downstairs to look for Jim.

Dimitri soon finds Jim in the kitchen, fixing up a plate of what he thinks at first is an actual breakfast, but when the biter brings it to the table, he sees that it's a plate of various organs. The hunter's stomach lurches at the "meal", but of course, it would kill him to upset Jim when the zombie is still learning about humans.

"Morning," he greets, and Jim climbs on top of him to greet him with a kiss on the forehead. Dimitri's surprised when he actually kisses him correctly, with his lips instead of his tongue. "Wow, Jim, I'm proud of you for kissing me the right way. I-I mean, not that your way wasn't correct, but it was kind of... y'know..."

Jim chirps happily, the hunter chuckling and kissing his cheek at his excitement. Dimitri then takes another plate of organs to the table, setting it down in front of the empty chair. The biter takes the seat and immediately digs into his breakfast, the hunter following his lead, albeit timidly.

God, it actually disturbs him how quickly comfortable he's become with eating human organs when he's around Jim.

After they're both done, Dimitri does the dishes while Jim plays with a ball on the floor, rolling it back and forth. When the dishes are cleaned and put away to dry, the hunter takes the biter into his arms and plops down on the couch to read a book to him, in hopes that it will improve the zombie's vocabulary.

"'Treasure Planet'," he reads, chuckling at the title. "Sounds like a classic kids' tale."

He begins to read with Jim trying to occasionally repeat some words, and like before, he almost gets some of them, which Dimitri praises him for. He finishes the book and is about to get another one from the shelf when Jim stops him in his tracks by his next attempt at speaking.

"Di..." the young biter speaks, "mi... tri..."

Dimitri turns towards Jim slowly, mouth agape in shock and amazement.

"Did... did you just say my name?"

"Di... mi... tri," Jim repeats, beaming with pride.

Dimitri whoops with joy, scooping the zombie up into his arms bridal style and spinning him around.

"Great job, Jim, I'm so proud of you!" he praises, making Jim grin and kiss his cheek. "Just wait 'til my group meets you, they'll be..."

The hunter trails off, thinking about his group. They wouldn't be so welcoming to Jim, most especially Sinbad and Cale. Dimitri will have to convince them--besides Eric, of course--to let the biter stay with them.

"Um," he says, "unless you want to stay here for a couple more weeks. I'd hate to make you uncomfortable in any way."

Jim nuzzles against Dimitri's face, purring all the while.

"So you're okay with leaving now? I know this inn is your safe space."

"You... now," the biter rasps, placing a hand on the hunter's chest. Dimitri's face takes on a look of confusion as he tries to gauge what that means. When he finally gets it, his face turns red.

"Are you trying to say that I'm your safe space now?" he asks, and Jim nods, giving him a kiss on the cheek and purring loudly. The hunter laughs softly and pulls his companion in closer, running a hand through the zombie's hair. "That is so sweet. You've become my safe space, too."

Jim's pleasant chirps are music to Dimitri's ears, and the hunter chuckles and carries the biter upstairs to pack.

As they walk out of the inn hand-in-hand, he prays that Jim will be accepted by Sinbad and Cale, but knows that he's going to have to be very convincing and actually show that Jim's not planning on hurting them.

Whatever it boils down to, one thing is for sure: he won't tolerate them trying to kill Jim. Even if it means betraying his own group by hurting one of them, he will not let them try to take the biter from him... no matter what.


	11. Chapter 11

Sinbad sits on the edge of his bed, gripping a photo of him, Dimitri, and Cale back when they were in university. In fact, that was where they'd first met, when they were assigned to work together on some project for their Environmental Health professor.

Sinbad and Cale both have their arms around Dimitri in the photo, holding up red solo cups while Dimitri just smiles for the camera. Sinbad looks super wasted (he was), and Cale looks like he's just there for something other than drinking. Now that he looks back on it, the blond never really picked up anything from the bar while Sinbad was pounding down drink after drink, shot after shot, trying to have some fun before their finals the following week.

The brunet thinks about taking the photo out of the frame and just cutting it up or lighting it on fire, but he knows he'll regret it soon afterwards. He doesn't have that many photos of the three of them before this apocalypse started, and it would pain him physically and emotionally to destroy even one of them... but the betrayal hurts way worse.

Sure, the breakup was three years ago, but you can't let go of six whole years of a relationship, not even one like theirs.

Sinbad decides to just put the photo at the very bottom of a drawer, and then, he walks out of the room where Cale and the others are sitting at the table playing Scrabble.

"Okay, Proteus," Cindy argues, "'etherwood' is not a word."

"That was supposed to say 'evermore'."

"HOW DO YOU GET 'ETHERWOOD' OUT OF 'EVERMORE'?!"

"I didn't have the correct letters because whoever handed them out did a terrible job!!"

"I think I won this round fair and square," Marina announces, turning her Scrabble board to face the others with 'Pineapple' spelled out. The others murmur in agreement, and Cindy and Ariel begin putting the game away.

"Who wants to play Charades? At least it won't involve us trying to kill one another like with these board games," Cale suggests, making Eric and Cindy laugh out loud.

"Cale," Eric replies, getting his laughter under control, "you've been in this group longer than me or any of the others, you should know by now that even a simple game like Charades could end with one of us trying to kill another member."

Cale rolls his eyes and sighs, throwing his hands up in defeat. "Well, I dunno what you guys wanna do now."

"How about we just.. I dunno, sit around and talk about whatever's on our minds? Could do some of us," Mulan looks over at Sinbad, "some good."

Sinbad takes a seat on an empty couch cushion, inbetween Eric and Cindy. He doesn't even spare a glance over at Cale. "Sure, why not? Let's talk."

"I'll go first, I guess," Cindy leans forward, "remember that huge storm that happened a couple months back? And we'd sent Eric to get food and water that night?"

"Yeah, I remember," Eric laughs, "by the time I got back, I was soaking wet and so was the food."

"We all had to just 'suck it up and eat', as Dimitri had said, and God, the bread was not fun to eat soggy."

"Didn't he mostly get canned food, though? Not everything was horrible," Cale recalls.

"True," Eric shrugs.

After a couple more moments of talking, they decide to go into the kitchen and make dinner. Cale gets out a pan and grabs some instant mashed potato mix, and Sinbad and Eric begin to prepare the grilled meat from the freezer.

"Hey," Proteus questions, grabbing a can of green beans, "has anyone seen Dimitri yet?"

"As a matter of fact," Cindy replies, "I don't think so. I hope he's okay."

"Probably got eaten by a biter," Sinbad says, "or 'got lost' again." He puts air quotes around 'got lost'.

Cale spares a glance over at Sinbad, but doesn't comment. To be honest, he's worried about Dimitri just as much as the rest of them are; however, after confessing about the affair, he doesn't want to vocalize it, as it will probably just start another fight between him and his ex.

He doesn't want things to be so tense between the two of them, but Sinbad's really making it difficult to approach him after the confession. The blond just hopes that they can soon talk things over with Dimitri, just the three of them.

However, he's not so sure that's a good idea, especially not right now... it could end with Dimitri getting hurt or leaving the group, and Cale definitely doesn't want to put him through more tension than he's most likely already feeling.

He just hopes that Dimitri will forgive him for telling Sinbad about the one night stand.

* * *

"Hey, it's okay," Dimitri croons, gently grabbing Jim's arm and guiding him towards the house up ahead. "Remember the time I promised you that I wouldn't let them hurt you?"

Jim nods, but is still tense. The hunter sighs and pulls the biter in for a hug, running a hand through his hair. Jim nuzzles his face against Dimitri's, and Dimitri kisses his cheek, making the zombie smile.

"Everything's gonna be alright, Jim, I promise. They have to go through me first before I ever let them harm you in any way, got it?"

A chirp is given in reply, and Dimitri caresses the young biter's face, giving him a small, very brief kiss on the lips.

"I'm here, I'm right here," he reassures, and Jim gives him a bigger smile, chittering happily.

Dimitri takes Jim's arm again and continues walking toward the house. He sees Eric in the front window, and his concern grows when the other disappears all of a sudden. Bracing himself for what he's sure will be a big fight between him and Sinbad, he tenses up when he guides Jim up the porch steps.

Fortunately, Eric himself opens the door, stepping out onto the porch and giving Dimitri a hug. The other returns it, and Jim just stands there in silence, watching the two with a look of curiosity.

Soon, Cindy steps out and wraps her arms around their leader, tears streaming down her face.

"Welcome back," she whispers, sniffling, and Dimitri chuckles, trying not to cry himself.

"Feels good to be back," he replies. When Cindy lets him go, he looks up and past her.

Cale is standing there, just staring at him. He doesn't come forward like the others eventually do, and Dimitri doesn't know whether to go to him or just walk by him into the bedroom...

...and then, as if things couldn't get anymore awkward or tense, Sinbad emerges from the kitchen, and he stops suddenly and begins to glare daggers at the other.

Dimitri clears his throat, in an effort to get rid of the sudden lump that's formed, and he steps in front of Jim so that Sinbad doesn't see him right away. He glances over at Eric and silently gestures to him to protect them in case Sinbad or Cale tries to shoot the biter, and the other nods, watching the two closely.

"Um," he finally addresses his group out loud, "I know I've been gone for... well, longer than I'd like to admit, but... I have good reason."

Sinbad rolls his eyes and scoffs, crossing his arms and still glaring at Dimitri. Cale rubs the back of his neck, nervous about his leader's explanation, though he doesn't know why.

"I..." Dimitri sighs heavily, "I've been... helping someone out. He's... different than the rest of us, but I hope that you'll welcome him nonetheless. Everyone..." he then takes a deep breath, "...this is Jim."

The hunter gestures gently for Jim to come forward, and the biter does so tentatively, eye trained on the two unfamiliar men inside the living room who haven't come out onto the porch, and he bares his teeth at the bigger one.

Sinbad instinctively goes for his gun and aims it at Jim, but Dimitri grabs the biter and pulls him into his arms before the other has a chance to fire it.

"What the hell?!"

"I won't hesitate to shoot you, too, dumbass! What the hell are you thinking?!"

"Sinbad, I think you need to calm dow-"

Eric stops speaking as soon as the gun is pointed towards him, and he raises his hands up. Sinbad retrains the pistol onto Jim, and the biter hisses ferociously, glaring menacingly.

"Jim, no!"

Before Dimitri has a chance to react, the zombie disentangles himself from his hold and lunges towards Sinbad, striking at him and knocking the pistol from the other's hand. Sinbad yells out and throws Jim off of him, knocking him into the side table inbetween the couches.

Dimitri dashes inside and picks Jim up off the ground, holding onto him tightly. Sinbad gets up, but before he has a chance to grab his gun again, Cale, much to the surprise of the others, kicks it underneath the couch.

"I knew you couldn't be trusted, Dimitri," Sinbad growls out, "what the fuck?! You're trying to get us killed, aren't you?!"

"No, he was protecting me!"

"Protecting you?! Yeah, sure, before he decides to fucking eat you!"

"He hasn't tried to attack me since I first met him. In fact, when I first met him at that store, he wasn't hostile like you would expect."

"That's the thing, some of them lure you in before they strike!"

"Actually, Sinbad," Eric interrupts, "I... I don't think Jim's going to attack Dimitri anytime soon.. he _was_ protecting him from you because he thought you were going to hur-"

"Eric, these things don't have functioning brains, they _can't_ fucking think!"

"Alright, Sinbad," Proteus speaks up, "that's quite enough. Now I am just as wary as you are, but we have to trust Dimitri that this biter is actually one of the good ones."

"Are you guys even fucking listening to yourselves?!"

"I'm with Proteus and Eric, Sinbad," Mulan voices, "you were the one being hostile, Jim was just trying to protect Dimitri."

"Me, too." Cindy.

"I took it as that, too." Ariel.

Sinbad then side-eyes Cale, who hasn't spoken up yet, and raises an eyebrow. Cale looks from Dimitri to Jim, then to Sinbad, and then he sighs.

"I..." he gulps down the lump in his throat. "I agree with... Sinbad."

The hurt look in Dimitri's eyes makes Cale's stomach twist, but he avoids staring for long.

"I'm sorry, Dimitri, we... we just can't turn a blind eye to the fact that, at the end of the day, he's still one of _them_."

"Well, I don't care what you two say," Dimitri's hostile tone pierces through Cale's heart, "he's staying with us. He can't live on his own, he's getting attacked by other biters, and I give enough of a shit to see that if he hasn't harmed me yet, he's not going to anytime soon."

Jim nuzzles his face against the hunter's shoulder, still watching Sinbad and Cale with a wary look in his eye.

"I'm the leader," Dimitri continues, "and what I say..."

He glances over at the others, who just stand there looking at him, and then looks back to Cale and Sinbad.

"...goes. He's staying here with me, and that is final."

Sinbad clenches his jaw, but ultimately gives up and just walks into the bedroom. Cale follows him, but when Dimitri tries to take Jim into the room, Sinbad stops him at the doorway.

"You and your freak can stay out in the living room tonight," he hisses.

He then slams the door shut in Dimitri's face, and the leader sighs and walks over to the longer couch in front of the coffee table, setting Jim down while he gets a blanket and pillow from the supply closet.

Eric helps him set up his makeshift bed on the couch, and Ariel gets a plate of food for him, setting it down on the table beside him.

"Thanks, you guys," Dimitri says, giving the group a genuine smile, and they all hug him goodnight before retreating to their bedrooms.

Jim wastes no time in getting on top of his human when Dimitri lays down, snuggling into his chest and purring happily. Dimitri kisses the biter's forehead and soon after drifts off to sleep, holding on tightly and not letting go of him.


End file.
